NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion University women’s basketball team (9-12, 2-5) will take on the Thundering Herd from Marshall University (7-12, 0-6) on Saturday, February 1, which will also be the second annual ‘Barefootin Night’ at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in support of Sumaritan’s Feet. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Old Dominion Athletics and the women’s basketball coaching staff are happy to support Samaritan’s Feet, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing shoes and proper foot care to underprivileged youth in African nations. On Saturday night, head coach Karen Barefoot will coach barefoot to show her support for this cause. ODU Athletics and the women’s basketball program encourages any fan interested to give a $10 text-to-give donation by texting “shoes” to 85944.

ALL-TIME SERIES (1-1)The Monarchs have only faced the Thundering Herd twice, prior to Saturday’s showdown. ODU dominated the most recent meeting, 68-36, on November 15, 1998. Marshall prevailed 41-34 on the first meeting during the 1973-74 season.

The Lady Monarchs are averaging 67.9 points a game and hitting 40.9 percent of its field goals on the season. ODU averages knocking down 5.2 three-point field goals per contest. On average, Old Dominion forces 17.8 turnovers per game and collects nine steals per contest, which is currently within the Top-100 nationally. ODU also ranks within the NCAA’s Top-100 lists for three-point field-goal defense, as they limit opposing teams to just connecting on 29.4% from long-range per game.

Entering the week, Shae Kelley’s 12 double-doubles ranked No. 13 in the country, while her 10 rebounds per game was good for a No. 35 national ranking.

The Lady Monarch’s Last Time OutOld Dominion lost to East Carolina (17-3, 5-2) in heartbreaking fashion, 64-63, on Thursday afternoon at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. With the win, the Pirates extended their home winning streak to 24, a streak that dates all the way back to November 12, 2012. Throughout this streak, only UAB and ODU have come within a single point of winning in Greenville, NC.

Shae Kelley led the way for Old Dominion, netting 20 points and grabbing five boards, while teammate Chelisa Painter recorded a double-double in a 13 point, 11 rebound performance. Becca Allison went a perfect 11-11 from the line and finished with 13 points on the day.

For the game, the Lady Monarchs shot 14-35 (36.2%) from the floor, 3-12 (25%) from three and 18-25 (72%) from the free-throw line. East Carolina shot 22-56 (39.3%) from the floor, 6-16 (37.5%) from downtown and 14-17 (82.4%) from the charity stripe.

Thursday’s game entailed a total of seven ties and five lead changes. Thursday’s game between the Lady Monarchs and Pirates was originally scheduled to be played on Wednesday; however, due to inclement weather and adverse traveling conditions. East Carolina is the only Conference USA team that Old Dominion plays twice this season, as the two teams will square off again in Norfolk on March 5th, for the grand finale of the 2013-14 regular season.

The 2013-14 Marshall Thundering Herd (7-12, 0-6) On Wednesday, the Thundering Herd dropped their sixth-consecutive game with a 77-50 loss to UTEP at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. During the UTEP game, junior Chukuka Ezeigbo pulled down 10 rebounds, which was her fourth double-digit mark on the boards this season. The downfall of the Thundering Herd was their turnovers, as they committed 22, which was the most all season, and led to 24 of UTEP’s points. Ezeigbo (Trenton, N.J.) moved into sole possession of 12th place for career blocked shots at Marshall. She needs three more to tie 11th-place holder Deanna Carter, who blocked 60 from 1978-82.

Marshall is led by junior guard Leah Scott who averages 11.8 points a game. Seven different players have led the Herd in scoring this season. No Thundering Herd lineup has started more than six times this season. Four different players have led the team in rebounding, with Suporia Dickens currently topping the charts at 7.4 boards per game. Remarkably, eight different lineup combinations have been used over 18 games, and five of the Herd’s seven wins have come with different starting lineups. Lastly, no Herd player has started all 18 games.

Marshall’s Chelsey Romero (Hampton Va.) was named C-USA Freshman of the week back in December averaging 11.5 rebounds a game during that stretch. Romero was the second player in school history to receive the honor.

Marshall is coached by Matt Daniel, who is in his second year at the helm for the Thundering Herd. Daniel was 72-50 for his career as a head coach and finished his last three seasons at Central Arkansas with a 66-26 record. He was also the 2010 and 2012 Southland Coach of the Year. Daniel took UCA from Division II to the Division I level and guided a program that had two consecutive 20-loss seasons (2007-08 and 2008-09) to its first ever Division I conference championship (Southland Conference), two postseason tournaments ('12 WNIT, '11 WBI) and three consecutive 21-win seasons.

MULTIMEDIA Radio: -STAR 1310 AM in Hampton Roads Saturday’s game will be aired live with the voice of the Lady Monarchs, Doug Ripley on play-by-play and former Lady Monarch assistant coach, Susan Montgomery handling the color duties. Doug and Susan’s broadcast will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a pre-game show from the Ted Constant Center. Following the contest, be sure to stay tuned in for the postgame show which will include live interviews with head coach Karen Barefoot and ODU’s Cox Communications Player of the Game!

STREAMINGAll fans can watch and listen to the Lady Monarchs over the internet with Monarch Media on www.odusports.com All home games will be video streamed live from the Constant Center in HD. A Monarch Media subscription can be accessed by going to ODUSports.com, then clicking Multimedia then Monarch Media.

The ODU InGame Mobile AppThe ODU InGame App is completely FREE and is compatible with Apple and Android products. The ODU InGame Mobile App includes LIVE stats for basketball games (and football, soccer and baseball), links for the live radio broadcast, social media feeds and up to the minute fan information!

Next Karen Barefoot Coach’s ShowThe next Karen Barefoot Coach’s Show will be Monday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. at YNot Pizza and Italian Cuisine in the University Village, hosted by the Voice of the Lady Monarchs, Doug Ripley, on ESPN Radio 94.1.